NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. WARRIORS

June 5, 2022

Draymond Green

Golden State Warriors

Game 2: Postgame

Warriors 107, Celtics 88

Q. Can you talk about how like good Steph was against the type of defense they were playing and when it kind of clicked for him?

DRAYMOND GREEN: I thought he was incredible, and most importantly, his decision-making was great. He got off the ball. He didn't drive into traffic. He took what the defense give him. I think for the first probably six minutes of that game or so, he had zero points. He wasn't forcing anything. Let the game come to him and, you know, we all followed that.

Q. Rightfully so, we always speak about Steph like you just did offensively. Can you talk a little bit about how good defensively he was tonight on the switches, locking people up, and doesn't get a lot of credit for that a lot of the times?

DRAYMOND GREEN: He never does. I've been talking about it the last couple years how much he's improved on that side of the ball. Teams used to try to call him into every action, and just try to pick on him. That doesn't work anymore. He sits down, he guards, and you know, we all are there behind him if he does need help. But he hasn't been needing that often, and it's great.

I've spoke about how much stronger he is. He's able to hold his ground, so you're not able to bump him off his spot, and that's been huge for us. I'm not shocked he's playing that type of defense. He's been doing that, like I said, for the last couple years.

Q. In your past Finals runs, you guys always had a lot of proven firepower around Steph, whether it was KD or Klay in the past. Feels like this is a little bit different, at least through the first couple games, a lot of Steph and trying to find where the rest of that offense comes from. Are you guys feeling that? Is this going to have to be done a different way?

DRAYMOND GREEN: I think our offense is always a lot of Steph. It all starts with Steph, whether -- you know, when KD was here, our offense still started with Steph. That's the way it's going to be.

I think when you're playing against a team like that, you have to get offense from other places and not just Steph. I think for the most part, we did a pretty good job of that. You know, Klay, what, 4-for-19, had a tough one, but that happens. We know he'll make shots as this series continues to go on.

But we didn't turn the ball over, and I thought that was very important in this game is keeping them out of transition and making them play against our defense.

Q. It's pretty clear you guys turned the intensity way up especially on defense. Was you being able to guard Jaylen Brown, was that part of it? How big a part do you think that had and what was the general attitude?

DRAYMOND GREEN: I think everybody played more force. It wasn't just me on Jaylen Brown. It was across the board. If I just pick up my force and no one else does, it doesn't work. It's a total team effort, guys being ready to help when help is needed and guys taking on the challenge at the point of attack.

Yes, I wanted to come out and be more aggressive on that side, and I think I did a good job of that. But that's a full team effort. It doesn't just work because of one guy.

Q. You said yesterday they needed to feel you when they had the ball when you guys were on defense. Do you feel like you achieved that tonight, and do you feel like that starts with you? Do you feel like you have to set the tone on that side of the ball?

DRAYMOND GREEN: That's my job. Just like I said Steph Curry sets the tone on the offensive side of the ball, it's my job to set the tone from the defensive side of ball. And I wanted to do that from the very beginning of the game. First play we come out with a jump ball, and we come out with a turnover.

Very important for me to come out that way on that side. I have to continue to do that in this series. It's not going to get any easier. It's only going to get tougher. Have to take that up another couple notches.

Q. From the jump ball to even the technical situation with Jaylen, do you know, are you pushing it to where you think the edge is active for you? Are you thinking, okay, I can push it to here because my team needs that sort of energy?

DRAYMOND GREEN: No, we need that energy anyway. For me to sit back and say, oh, I'm going to push it to this edge and try to pull back, that don't work. I got to be me.

So with the first tech, it is what it is. That's not going to stop me from being aggressive or doing what I do on the basketball court. Just got to live with the results.

Q. Draymond, Gary has quite the remarkable journeyman story with everything he's been through and obviously getting a tough break in the Memphis series where he breaks his elbow, uncertain whether or not he would be able to make a return this postseason. What was it like to see him get the opportunity tonight and hit that corner three?

DRAYMOND GREEN: It was incredible. Like you said, he's had quite the journey. To see him finally get over the hump and play the way did he this year, number one. I think GP played one preseason game and made the team and just continued to battle, became a main key piece in our rotation.

It's tough losing him in that Memphis series, but we're able to overcome it and then able to overcome Dallas and give him an opportunity to get back; give Andre an opportunity to get back.

To see him finally get that opportunity and come in, I know it was hard on him, missing the first couple free throws, and to step in there after that and knock down that three, having very little reps of shooting the basketball since that Memphis series just shows who he is.

That's the reason he's here, though. Most guys can't step up in that situation, but GP, he's tough and he's built the right way and he stepped up and he gave us some good minutes tonight.

Q. How did you see Jordan work his way through the ups and downs of tonight's game?

DRAYMOND GREEN: I thought he did really well. He had a tough time there in that second quarter, I think it was, and he checked out. Steph came back in. We kind of got the game under control and he just stayed the course. He never wavered. That's important. When you're playing against a tough defensive team like that, sometimes it's going to be hard for a while and you just have to stay the course and get that breakthrough. He stayed the course and he didn't start forcing things. He continued to play within the offense, and then things started going his way a little bit.

Q. In your words, in Game 1, you guys said you dominated for the first 41, 42 minutes, and then tonight you blow them out after halftime. Was tonight more of like an attitude adjustment for you guys?

DRAYMOND GREEN: I think it was definitely an attitude adjustment. Like I said, we didn't play with enough force the entire 48 minutes. We had spurts where we played with the right amount of force in Game 1. But overall, against a team like that, you can't let your foot off the gas pedal. All they need to see is one shot go in, and it can start a domino effect.

We knew. Like I said last game, they are who we thought they were. So we knew we had to keep our foot on the gas pedal and not let up, and we did that, and we were able to come out with the win.

Q. You were turning them over in the first half, you kind of were getting a lot of things that you wanted, yet you were still only up two before that third quarter explosion. What was the confidence level, the consistency that if you keep pressing it, either they are going to crack or they are going to break? What was that like?

DRAYMOND GREEN: Ultimately when you're playing against a good team, they are not going to waver. They are going to continue to play their game, whether it's going their way or not. Last game, it was the same thing. Like I thought we were playing great and we didn't create much separation, then we did. Difference was we gave it back. Tonight we didn't want to give it back.

Ultimately we always talk about playing 48 minutes, and if we do that, we feel like they will break at some point, not just them, just over the course of a season. If we can put a good 48 minutes together, you trust in that work, and hopefully they will break, and we were able to pull ahead tonight.

Q. Your feelings on the overall mental side of the game? You've been so complimentary of their defense, how physical they are. We know who they are. And you're deliberate with what you do. You send messages individually tonight with physicality and force. But as a unit, are you where you want to be when it comes to the mental side of the game in this matchup?

DRAYMOND GREEN: I think we are getting there. Confidence goes up, it goes down. That's just the way the game works. Overall I think we are in a great mental space. Nobody panicked. Everybody stayed the course. And we ultimately knew if we go out and play our game, we put ourselves right back in position to take control of the series. Now, we haven't taken control of it yet, but we have put ourselves in position to go and take control of it. That's the important thing.

For me, you know, you have to send a message. Guys follow me on that side of the ball. If I'm not sending a message, who is sending that message? I am not going to just come and sit in front of y'all and hold myself accountable and not back it up. You got to be about what you talk about, and I take pride in that.

Q. Did you sense that third quarter explosion coming? Because as soon as Klay, who had been struggling all night, hit a three, Ime was up on the timeout?

DRAYMOND GREEN: I felt like it was coming the entire game. I felt like we were playing really good basketball and we just didn't pull away. If you stay the course and continue to play basketball, it will eventually go your way.

I thought we did a good job of that, and we feed off it. When Klay hits shots, it gets us going. So it was good to see him knock that shot down and that started a run for us.

Q. When I looked at Wiggins, I liked the way that he kind of altered a lot of Tatum's shots throughout the course of the game, got him out of his rhythm. What did you make of the way that he covered Jayson Tatum tonight?

DRAYMOND GREEN: I thought he was incredible and he was great last game as well. JT got some to go early, but ultimately you have to stick with it 48 minutes and make those shots tough. It's hard to shut guys down that are that good, so you just have to trust the fact that if you make the shots tough over the course of game, they will miss some.

Wiggs has been incredible all playoff long. Really, for the most part, all season long on the defensive end. But he's really taken it up a couple notches in these playoffs, and we need him to continue to do that. He's our primary wing defender, and he's doing a great job of that, and we feed off that, it's very important to how you're guarding the ball at the point of attack. Whether it's him on JT or me on Jaylen Brown or Steph on Marcus Smart, you have to be physical at the point of attack, and I thought we did a good job of that.